


High Seas Hell

by bagelistrying



Category: Cuphead (Video Game)
Genre: Boss Battle, Chaos, Cuphead fking loses it, Dramatic Everyone, Gen, Mugman is freaking out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:47:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26195866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bagelistrying/pseuds/bagelistrying
Summary: Having defeated another debtor, the brothers try to collect her soul contract - but Maria tries to keep fighting. Mugman wants to spare her, but Cuphead has other plans.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	High Seas Hell

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I wrote this on 2 hours of sleep, so it might be kind of a fever dream. Anyway, I’ve always been kinda scared of how Cuphead acts in the cutscenes and how relentlessly he bullies the debtors, so I wanted to do something with that. I chose Cala Maria because I wanted to see if I could make myself feel sympathy for her, her goddamn eels, and her hellhole of a boss fight.

The bullets had been raining down onto Maria for a while now, and despite the help of the other ocean creatures, she couldn’t dodge much more. Pain stabbed at her shoulder when she moved, the taste of salt water building up in her throat. The brothers showed no sign of stopping, but it was too difficult. She couldn’t go on.

Knowing both brothers could see, she let her expression soften, breathing heavily. Slowing down, she suddenly threw a hand out onto a spire beside her, trying to keep her balance. 

“Looks like you’ve met your match, Maria! Better get over here and sign the contract!” Cuphead shouted, having dismounted the plane on a rock flat in front of her. 

She began to catch her breath again. “No... I...” she was gasping for air, the tentacles that resembled hair having fallen limp on her shoulders. “I won’t do it...” She feebly lifted a hand. Mugman braced himself for another attack, ready for more pufferfish, or electric dolphins, or even worse, something new. 

He jumped at a light splash at his side. A shark’s fin had just broken the surface, but almost immediately sank back down. Maria’s eyes were pressed shut with frustration, eyelashes still dripping seawater down her cheeks.

Cuphead unrolled the contract and waved it above his head. “You ready now?”

Mugman leaned over uncertainly. “Gee, Cuphead, should we really be doing this? She’s just a lady who encountered the devil, we have no reason to-“

“Don’t worry, Mugman, I’ve got it all under control.”

“But we encountered the devil too! W- we know what it’s like!”

“It’s either her soul or ours, just bear with me.” Cuphead shut him down.

“Surely there will be plenty of other contracts, do we really-“

“Hush, we haven’t the time.” He turned back to the mermaid, who was teetering unsettling in the water. “Hey, Maria! There’s another stack of lobby bombs here with your name on them!”

“I- I can’t... take it, but...” she begged, even more exhausted. “T-the devil... he’s going to punish m-me...”

“If you don’t get over here, we’re going to punish you too!” Cuphead yelled in response, the seal on the contract glittering with the light on the waves.

“Well... are we?” Mugman tapped his brother on the shoulder.

Cuphead ignored him. “You’ve dragged yourself further down the pier, away from the rest of the isle. Do you know what that means?”

“Er, Cuphead...?”

“Nobody will hear your screams.”

Mugman took a step away, watching fearfully as Maria waded towards them, whimpering and clutching the bullet holes in her shoulder. Blood was seeping down from her forehead, and there were scratches all across her exposed stomach as she glided forward, one eye blackened and closed. She lifted the pen carefully and with a trembling fist, signed her name on the bottom line. Cuphead snatched the pen away from her, confidently rolling up the contract. 

Maria brushed at a tear with her index finger, balling her hand into a fist by her side. She looked as if she wanted to punch him, but couldn’t. Cuphead skipped back to his plane, but Mugman stayed behind a moment. He remorsefully watched Maria, who defeatedly sank up to her shoulders in the water, flicking at the surface with her finger. 

The moment Mugman turned to follow his brother back to the planes, he caught her murmuring something, and Cuphead did too.

“What was that?” His head whipped over his shoulder, the straw bouncing on the rim of the cup.

Maria’s eyes narrowed as she repeated herself. “See you in hell.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
